Fuzzy Distractions

Last week, I fully intended on writing a few posts about Spring diy projects and a craft project that I'd been working on. I had the photo uploaded and edited, and then this fuzz ball came into my life. I was at my desk, beginning my work when the Mister set out to pick up one of the kids from track practice. Being that it was Spring break, this was late in the morning. Just before he set off to complete this errand, he found an ad online for free kittens, local, and time was limited. I figured he might send a message and get some sort of response by the end of the day, When it took him longer to come back from picking up the kiddo, I began to wonder. One hour later, he came home with this delightful kitty in tow.

She was (is) so tiny, with a wee tail and a squeaky meow. She was a bit frightened and needed to be held a lot. The rest of my day, I had her on my lap as she napped and although I tried to get some work done, my efforts were thwarted by this cuddle bug.

We threw lots of names around, trying to think of the most fitting name. Then, one of the kids suggested "Freya," after scouring Google for goddess names. That named felt like the perfect fit for the kitty. After a weekend with her, the name has proven to suit her, perfectly.

I did manage to pull myself away a few times to do some shopping and to rake up a yard, but that was only because we left her in the care of one of the kids. She is still growing more comfortable with the dogs. The smallest of which is having the most difficult time adjusting to the new family member. The other day, I found her hiding on top of my cookbooks. I think she might have been trying to escape the curiosity of the canine dwellers.

As I compose this post, she is curled up on my, lap resting quietly, and I am finally able to complete some tasks. Once she's bigger, she'll be more independent. Hopefully, she'll prove to be an excellent mouser (the whole reason for getting her); if her play activity is any indication, the mice should quiver in fear........

That is what is going on in the land of Lady Toesocks. The rest of the week will include more crafts and more posts about the diy projects that I completed, last week. The weather is looking much better and there will be more outdoor work and more baking happening, too. I'm sure I'll tell you all about it! Until next time~ Toodahloo!

I Made A Kitchen Chalkboard!

Now that Spring is here I've been itching to do some housework. While it's still far too cold to do any yard work or work on my front porch, it was in the 30's today, I can still spruce up the interior of the home. The other day, I began working on touching up some of the paint that has chipped away throughout the house. Then, I decided that I really wanted to have some sort of message center in the kitchen. We do have a bulletin board, of sorts, but I wanted something different. After being totally incapable of finding my roll of cork, I decided to just have a chalkboard. The entire project was completed using materials that we already had around the house!

Since I am not handy with a saw or a drill, I had the mister construction the board bit. It already looked like a chalk board, even without the paint. Then, I spent the bulk of the weekend in a minivan travelling up north to see choral competitions. So, this had to wait until I wasn't exhausted anymore.

I first began my painting stage by painting a layer of chalkboard paint on the inside surface of the board. We did tape off the edges of the frame so that I wouldn't accidentally get paint on the it. 

I had to allow the chalk paint to dry between layers; this is when I painted the frame.

After a suggestion from the mister, I found a phrase that I liked on Pinterest and I painted that on the sides of the frame. I used white acrylic paint for this step.

After everything had dried, I "distressed" the board. I first used sandpaper to wear down some of the edges and to rub off some paint. Then, I used brown shoe polish to rub onto the exposed wood, I also smudged it over the white letters and on the sides of the frame, in order to make it look aged. I really like the way it worked out. I especially like that everything was made with materials that I already had (besides the shoe polish). Now, I can post what's for dinner and we won't have to answer the question "What's for dinner?" Also, if there's a school event coming up, we can write it on the board to remind ourselves. That is one crafty project down with many more to go. I will keep you updated as I complete more projects, Until next time~ Toodahloo!